ABAN Marks 10 Years with 2025 Annual Congress Focused on Accelerating Local Capital Participation Across Africa into Innovative Ventures

The Africa Business Angel Network (ABAN) is proud to announce the ABAN Annual Congress 2025, a landmark event celebrating 10 years of advancing angel investing across Africa. It is a distinct honor to bring this historic event to Lagos, Nigeria, from 17th to 18th  October 2025, a country that has consistently demonstrated leadership in mobilising local capital and fostering innovation on the continent.

This year’s Congress, which will bring together a powerful mix of early-stage investors, policymakers, entrepreneurs, fund managers, and ecosystem builders, will run under the bold theme: “Accelerating Local Capital Participation” to align on strategies that will unlock greater capital flows and a self-sustaining investment landscape for ecosystem growth. 

Over the past decade, ABAN has mobilised over $35 million in early-stage investments and built a vibrant community of over 5,000 business angel investors across 37 African countries and the diaspora. The 2025 Congress will reflect on this impact while charting a bold course for the next generation of Africa-led capital solutions.

At the heart of the Congress lies a shared ambition of scaling what works. ABAN’s core objectives for the 2025 Congress are focused on:

• Unlocking greater local and diaspora participation in early-stage funding to build resilient startup ecosystems, drive economic self-reliance, and ensure that the wealth generated through innovation stays on the continent.
• Promoting sector-focused investments in high-growth areas like agritech, fintech, health-tech, climate resilience, AI, edtech, digital trade, and the creative economy to fuel sustainable development and targeted innovation.
• Advocating for enabling policies to create a more supportive, transparent, and accessible environment for early-stage investors across Africa.
• Strengthening cross-border syndication networks to facilitate collaborative deal-making and expand access to diverse investment opportunities across regions.

Yemi Keri, President of ABAN.

“As we mark this important milestone, we are reminded that Africa’s greatest resource is its people—and their willingness to invest in one another. This Congress is a call to action for even greater collaboration among African and diaspora investors to fuel innovation and build resilient economies. We are focused on promoting sector-driven investments, particularly in agriculture, cleantech, digital trade, health, AI, education, smart cities, sports, and the creative economy, and advocating for policy execution that supports scalable and inclusive early-stage investing.” Yemi Keri, President of ABAN.

The two-day gathering will feature high-level networking, thought leadership panels, startup showcases, and strategic launches, including Catalytic Africa 2.0, the Africa Business Angel Investment Vehicle (ABAIV), and the unveiling of the ABAN Angel Investment Report 2025. Participants will explore cross-border syndication models, policy frameworks, and thematic investments across sectors such as climate-smart agriculture, cleantech, health, AI, education, digital trade, smart cities, sports, and the creative economy.

“Over the years, we have seen how local capital drives meaningful outcomes by supporting overlooked founders, enabling innovation, and strengthening Africa’s early-stage investment ecosystems. It is now time to build on that progress through smarter syndication, inclusive policy, and targeted investor education. This Congress brings those priorities into sharp focus, guided by four strategic pillars: Local Capital Participation and Growth, Policy and Regulatory Frameworks for Early Stage Investing, Thematic and Sector Focused Investment, and Access to Follow-on Funding. That is why we need to keep unlocking even more potential by scaling what works, through smarter syndication, inclusive policy, and investor education, and this Congress is where these ideas will come alive.” Fadilah Tchoumba, CEO of ABAN.

Key highlights of the Congress will also include curated roundtable strategy labs, live Angel networks/funds/syndicate pitch sessions designed for co-investment, and the ABAN Gala Awards Ceremony, which will honor outstanding contributors to Africa’s early-stage investment movement. The ABAN Annual Congress 2025 is a catalytic platform to mobilise local capital, align pan-African strategies, and activate the next wave of early-stage investors across Africa and the diaspora. Africa must fund Africa, and that future begins at the centre, not the sidelines.

For partnership opportunities and general inquiries, please contact [email protected]

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